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Restorative practice can transform how schools think about discipline, relationships, and community. By shifting focus from punishment to accountability and connection, schools can use restorative principles to support wellbeing, inclusion, and meaningful learning.
This month, Jessica Kingsley Publishers Library’s Topic in Focus explores how restorative approaches can reduce conflict, strengthen student–teacher relationships, and create more equitable learning environments. Scroll down to read selected chapters from our Inclusive Teaching and Learning collection.
When schools integrate restorative practices, students feel respected, valued, and included, all of which contribute to better academic outcomes, attendance, and wellbeing.
This sample chapter from Implementing Restorative Practices in Schools: A Practical Guide to Transforming School Communities offers an overview of restorative practice and its relationship to quality teaching and learning.
In restorative practice, the act of asking questions can help teachers empower students to gain emotional awareness, nurture positive relationships, and solve the problems behind disruptive behavior.
Read this chapter from Building a Trauma-Informed Restorative School: Skills and Approaches for Improving Culture and Behavior, in which authors Joe Brummer and Margaret Thorsborne offer practical guidance on how teachers can use effective questioning in their student interactions.
When it comes to addressing behavior problems like classroom disruption, interpersonal conflicts, or bullying, restorative justice shifts focus from direct disciplinary action to accountability and repair.
In this chapter from The Continuum of Restorative Practices in Schools: An Instructional Training Manual for Practitioners, education experts Margaret Thorsborne and Dave Vinegrad present guidelines for using restorative justice to directly address and correct bullying behaviors.
Strong communication lies at the heart of a school’s restorative ecosystem. To provide structure and equitability, educators and administrators often use a restorative circle as a way for students to talk, listen, and address relationships or conflicts in a group.
This chapter from A Real-World Guide to Restorative Justice in Schools: Practical Philosophy, Useful Tools, and True Stories describes four types of restorative circles that can serve distinct purposes and offers practical guidance for effective facilitation.
In a school system, implementing restorative practice starts at the top. When school leaders embrace and model whole-school Positive Education, all teachers and students benefit.
Read this sample chapter from For Flourishing’s Sake: Using Positive Education to Support Character Development and Wellbeing, in which educator and writer Frederika Roberts presents concrete examples of school leaders who have successfully role modeled a restorative approach and saw positive results.
